I Became the Golden Sun That Steals the Academy’s Aircraft

005. Mock Entrance Ceremony

Demeia Academy did not value formality or pretense, but that did not mean that the entrance ceremony was not extravagant. On the contrary, important events were held on a grand scale by pouring money into them, and especially at entrance and graduation ceremonies, the scale was beyond imagination.

If you think about the reason, it was simple.

The reason for the entrance ceremony was that high-ranking nobles participated in the event, as children of nobles who proved their blue blood and talented people who would be responsible for the future of the empire entered the ceremony. For similar reasons, the graduation ceremony was a tribute to the nobles who had already completed their certification and to the talented individuals who would become the future of the empire, so it was held almost like an official event of the empire.

In particular, the biggest reason was that Demeia Academy could not prepare for the entrance and graduation ceremonies in vain, as royal family members close to the right of succession took turns attending.

Gilbert was impressed by the dazzling interior decoration that he had only seen in virtual reality, and sat down in his assigned seat under the guidance of the employees. At first glance, he was in the front row, so it seemed like he had been placed differently according to status.

No matter how skillful it was, it was a place where everything was said, but it was difficult to place nobles and commoners on the same level at such an official event. Moreover, if such a thing were to be done at an entrance ceremony attended by members of the royal family, as an extreme example, one could be treated as a member of the resistance praising the republic.

Of course, the situation would usually end by giving an extreme example and implying that it was uncomfortable, but it was beneficial not to create such a situation.

How much time has passed?

While Gilbert was looking around from the corner of his eye to see where the main character was, all the vacant seats were filled, and the VIPs were also taking their seats one by one. The moment the principal of Demeia Academy stepped up to the stage to conduct the entrance ceremony, all the chattering noises disappeared and there was silence.

The director of Demeia Academy was a very important position in terms of power within the empire. This was because all nobles had to enroll in the academy, and the talented people the empire asked them to present were gathered, so the moment the academy director turned his back on the empire, an irreparable disaster could occur.

So, he served as the academy director for generations from the family of the Marquis of Duramentum, a strong imperial faction in the empire, and was given the middle name of Demeia directly by the emperor.

In particular, Marquis Lucas, who took over as the head of the academy this time, was a man who made remarkable achievements on the battlefield before taking over the position of head of the academy from his predecessor. He even achieved the first rank of knight and was called one of the strongest swords protecting the empire in name and reality.

When he was a field commander, he was famous for being highly regarded by his subordinates. Gilbert, who played Tactical Combat, also quite liked Marquis Lucas, who was upright but trusted by his subordinates.

Considering that even in the community, there were many people calling him an old man and cosplaying, I could see how popular Marquis Lucas was.

In that sense, Gilbert was strangely moved when he saw Lucas Demeia, Marquis of Duramentum, on the podium. He also thought about it when he met Seraphina, but it felt strange to think that he was actually seeing the character in the game that he had been facing in virtual reality.

Marquis Lucas, who came up to the podium, looked around at the new students who entered school this year. All kinds of new students, from children of famous noble families to commoners who didn’t even have a last name, were all looking at him.

He really enjoyed this scene, which he saw every year when he took the position of academy director. If on the battlefield you had to watch the empire’s stars fading every time, at the academy it was the opposite.

He felt energized just by facing the twinkling stars that would be responsible for the future of the empire.

This time, I was very curious about what other talented people had entered the academy. And I started looking forward to the entrance mock competition, which was the first place to confirm it.

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Lucas, who stood on the podium and cleared his throat, opened his mouth with a magic tool enchanted with amplification magic in front of him.

“Welcome, gentlemen. My name is Lucas Demeia Duramentum, and I am the head of Demeia Academy.”

Marquis Lucas’ words, which began like a commander giving a speech at a departure ceremony, had the power to grab the audience’s attention.

The position of commander was where he could control the morale of his troops with a single word. It was his ability as a commander to turn the unfavorable war situation with just a few words.

Among them, Marquis Lucas, who served as commander of the field army on the front lines of Infractus, was particularly talented.

“The head of the academy is not interested in what you did before coming to Demeia Academy. This is a place where you have to prove yourself, a battlefield.”

Marquis Lucas, who instantly attracted the attention of those who participated in the entrance ceremony, continued to deliver a congratulatory speech and mock-game opening speech.

“Don’t look for family background. If you are a noble, you will have to prove that you are blue-blooded, and if you are a commoner, you will have to bring out your talents. Prove and prove yourself endlessly. That is what you came here to do. It will be meaningful.”

It was a very hard word without any rhetoric, but it was a word that touched my heart.

“I will end the introduction here. From now on, I declare the opening of the Demeia Academy entrance mock battle.”

After a short and bold speech, Marquis Lucas left the podium.

Gilbert watched the introduction of the tutorial he had seen and heard countless times, and looked at the professors who were moving smoothly. Demeia’s entrance mock competition begins with dividing the freshmen into quarters and dividing them into teams.

Dividing into just two resulted in an all-out war between the two teams, and dividing into three resulted in the two teams forming an alliance, with one team being unilaterally pushed out, and a picture of the two united teams fighting again.

So what came out was to divide the teams into four and conduct a mock battle. Of course, the three teams could have defeated one team in an alliance, or two teams could have united and an all-out war could have occurred.

But if one team falls out like that, the story is different. The moment the coalition team that maintained its power completely destroys the opposing coalition team, they become enemies again.

Even if it was the same alliance, we had to make sure there was no betrayal and care about preserving power. In the case of the admissions mock competition, which took place within a short period of time, the ability to make decisions at that moment was more important than anything else.

So, a cadet who becomes a commander can receive high bonus points and at the same time face a harsh judgment. This was because the evaluation was conducted strictly as full command authority was given to the cadet who became the commander.

‘Then let’s get started.’

Due to the special nature of the evaluation, the commander first receives resources and, if there are no applicants, randomly selects a commander cadet and then conducts a mock battle.

This is where Tactical Combat’s character creation begins. You will be presented with a choice as to whether to apply as a commander cadet or not, and the moment you choose, it will affect your special abilities, authority and leadership.

If you apply to become a command cadet, it is natural that the level of difficulty will jump. When Gilbert was still a newbie, he experienced the commander difficulty level once and his evaluation was so low that he fretted throughout the game and eventually had to start over.

It was a crime to believe and laugh about my military experience.

Gilbert shook his head. That was just before I got used to it.

Of course, I couldn’t guarantee that it would be the same now that it was reality and not a game, but that didn’t mean my career was going anywhere. It would have been easier to use military experience because it was a reality.

“My name is Roxas, and I am in charge of conducting this mock battle. Please let me know if any of the enrolled cadets would like to apply for the role of commander.”

Gilbert glanced around before leaving. Everyone was just looking around at each other as if they were engaged in a search war, and no one was willing to step forward.

The cadets who were commoners felt burdened by giving orders to nobles, while the cadets who were nobles were assessing the situation and measuring the timing. I was thinking about variables that might arise, but it wasn’t Gilbert.

“I will do it.”

Before anyone else, and faster than anyone else.

The first action that exists in achievements is to apply for a commander during character creation. If you take this route, there is a penalty that if one team falls during a mock battle, you will receive a combined effort, but if you successfully lead the mock battle to victory, you will receive a high stat bonus.

You give as much as you show. That was the advantage of this route.

“I appoint Gilbert Lionheart as the commander of Team 1. Please come here first.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Gilbert. The gaze that first seemed curious about who the cadet was applying to be a commander soon turned into a gaze filled with contempt and disgust.

Trash, irredeemable, a fool.

There was nothing normal in the evaluations given by the gazes. Gilbert also knew this very well, but he tried to ignore it. Even if he didn’t do it himself, he couldn’t do anything about it as long as the world judged it.

His notoriety had already spread widely, from cadets from noble families to cadets from commoners. He had already been branded as a bastard with no way to save him even within the territory, so there was no way that rumors about him would not spread even if he was at Demeia Academy.

So, the change in perception that he had in mind was one thing. No matter how good he did, there was no way for him to avoid being told that he was a scum laundering his image.

But the story is a little different if we highlight whether the scumbag had that side. Normally, if a bad person changes his mind and continues to do good things, he gets criticized for washing his image, but sometimes, when he does good things, people look at him with unexpected eyes, wondering if he had that kind of side to him.

Gilbert aimed at that subtle difference. The fact that he also has that side makes the evaluation go in the exact opposite direction. The beginning of what was needed to do so was this entrance mock competition.

“Are there any cadets who would like to be the next commander?”

Gilbert carefully looked at the cadets who were still paying attention to what Ruhas said. Part of it was to see who would appear as a competitor, but the biggest reason was that I was curious about what route the main character at the entrance ceremony would take.

The reason Gilbert took this route was not only to change his perception, but also to receive additional points for special abilities in order to take the commander route instead of relying on flawed characteristic skills.

If the protagonist does not use the commander route, I plan to use him as his subordinate, and if he takes the commander route, I plan to use him as a commander’s comrade, so I was curious about the route the protagonist chose.

After a very short period of time, the cadet who supported the commander finally appeared after Gilbert.

“I will do it.”

A typical handsome man with rarely seen black hair and soft lines, the exact opposite of Gilbert, was raising his hand.

Gilbert’s eyes lit up for an instant.

The main character of Tactical Combat has finally appeared.